


The Problem with Susan

by tabulaxrasa



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Kidfic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-10
Updated: 2010-07-10
Packaged: 2017-10-21 11:31:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/224704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabulaxrasa/pseuds/tabulaxrasa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor's not available to take Susan away from Gallifrey, so the Master does it for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Problem with Susan

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Cenori for beta!

The Doctor called, for the first time in decades, when the Master was in the middle of a very important series of sensitive experiments. Just another example of the Doctor's general thoughtlessness. He took the call anyway, cursing his folly all the while.

"Ah, there you are," the Doctor said. The Master grit his teeth. The Doctor continued with a ridiculous ramble about how he'd stumbled into some sort of political uprising and was temporarily detained by one of the factions on a pitiful, backwards planet.

"Do you want me to bail you out?" the Master asked as politely as he was able in such trying circumstances. If that was what the Doctor was after, he was in for a long wait.

"Oh, no, no," the Doctor said, waving him off as if the Master was trying to pick up the check at lunch instead of offering to risk life, limb, and freedom. "No, my dear, don't worry about _that._ This is nothing, a minor inconvenience. I'll have it taken care of in no time. No, what I wanted to talk about is, well… Susan."

"Susan?"

"Our granddaughter. You may recall—"

"I know who Susan is!" The Doctor had the unique ability to make the Master go from zero to enraged in three microspans. Before the Master could remind him which of them had missed her last birthday, the Doctor had resumed speaking.

"Good, yes. Well, about Susan…" the Doctor trailed off into vagueness. They stared at each other through the monitors.

"Why did you want to talk about Susan?" the Master asked, spitting every word through gritted teeth.

"It's a bit delicate. Hmm. Well, it's almost time for her to be initiated, isn't it? And we always said we hated that…"

They'd had this debate before, with the children. The Master reminded the Doctor of that.

"Yes, yes, but listen. I've been talking to the Rani— ran into her quite by accident recently on—"

"Oh, the _Rani,_ " the Master interrupted to sneer.

"Hush!" the Doctor said. Irritation forced him to get to the point at long last. "She's been doing some looking into genetics and instances of Void reactions running in families."

"What, as a hobby?"

"Well, probably. You know how she gets, hmm? Anyway, she believes she has determined that negative void reactions, as in…" the Doctor paused, apparently trying to be delicate.

"Like mine, you mean," the Master said flatly. He wouldn't accept it from anyone else, but the Doctor had spent a lot of time inside the Master's head.

"Ah, yes. Hmm. She believes they're genetically linked. Passed down from generation to generation. Or more specifically, that type of reaction—" he met the Master's eyes through the screens— "skips a generation."

"Ah."

They sat in silence for a few spans, until the sounds of shouting and projectile weapons firing came from the Doctor's side of the connection. "Oh, blast it," the Doctor muttered. "Master?"

Rather a lot of information was implied in that one word, and the Master understood all of it. "I'll think about it."

The Doctor opened his mouth, no doubt to further harangue him or dispense unnecessary and unwanted advice, but mercifully the connection cut out.

…

The Master did spend a lot of time thinking about it. He didn't believe there was anything wrong with himself, quite to the contrary. With the exception of the Doctor and the Rani, no other Time Lords were in his league.

On the other hand, he did recognise that he was not what was generally considered acceptably… normal. Although the Master had no desire to be ordinary, mundane, standard, or any other variety of average, he did acknowledge that it made some things easier. And not everyone had his strength of mind and character.

There was also… the drums. He heard them when it was quiet, in the transitions between sleeping and waking. That was one of the things that had attracted him to the Doctor in the first place— no one was better than him at the continuous production of noise.  
He was used to the drums, and as far as he could tell, they were unique to him, and he did enjoy being unique. But that didn't mean he'd wish it on another innocent child, especially one of his.

…

He didn't see any need to consult Susan's parents, so the night before the Initiation Ceremony he let himself in and knocked on her door. Despite the lateness of the hour she opened it at once.

She looked slightly terrified, but brightened up in a very gratifying way when she saw who it was. "Grandfather!"

He smiled. "Hello, Susan. How would you like to take a trip with me?"

 

She did not have that brilliant spark he and the Doctor had, but she was loyal and gifted in telepathy, and the Master believed he could make something of her.

…

"Susan!"

"I'm sorry, Grandfather! I don't mean to be so clumsy!"

He looked down at the remains of the Telepathic Amplifier he'd spent three weeks building.

To be fair, he should've known better than to let Susan carry one end.

"Never mind, my dear," he sighed. "This planet wasn't really worth taking over, anyway."

…

He did not encourage her obsession with Earth the same way the Doctor would have— apparently insanity really was genetic— but he couldn't stamp it out entirely. He forbade her from listening to the Monkees, but he did acknowledge the Beatles had some merit.

…

Susan took over her first planet at the age of 15. The Master was so proud he had to wipe away tears at her coronation.

She sat on her throne, receiving the tribute of the populace, face shining, and it was in some way more satisfying than taking over a planet himself ever had been.

…

As a birthday treat, they ended up back on Earth, in the 22nd Century this time, and found it even more of a dump than before. The Master approved of chain gangs in general, but objected on the strongest terms to any attempts to force them into one.

The new overlords of Earth were rattletrap metal cylinders, all bumps and appendages and repetitive orders. The Master initially assumed he could make some sort of alliance. When that failed, he was forced to assert himself.

"I am the Master and you will obey me!"

It didn't work. It didn't work _at all._

They managed to escape, of course, and ran quite by accident into a resistance group. Resistance groups were really more the Doctor's gag, but it was briefly diverting.

He did not approve in any way, however, of the minor flirtation between Susan and one of the younger resistance members. He attributed Susan's high spirits to the romance of the situation, and forgave her, but Time Lords should not mix with lesser life forms.

He did not like the Daleks— they made him unaccountably nervous. But he didn't care about humans, or Earth, and was content to leave them to each other. The place was clearly dangerous like this, and the Master thought it best to leave as quickly as possible.

He and Susan had just made it back to their TARDIS when the sound of another TARDIS materialising brought them up short.

To the Master's chagrin, it was the Doctor.

"Grandfather!" Susan cried, and ran over to embrace him. The Master folded his arms and tried not to look like he was sulking.

"My dear child," the Doctor was saying. "How extraordinary to find you here." He nodded with the merest vestige of politeness at the Master.

"We were just leaving," the Master said, and held out an arm. Susan's face fell, but she obediently came over.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy your time here," the Master sneered at the Doctor.

"Oh, do be careful of the Daleks," Susan called.

"The what?" The Doctor looked a bit pale and swayed on his feet.

The Master rolled his eyes. He would have thought the Doctor's vanity would have driven him to regenerate by now.

"Come along, Susan," the Master ordered. "Mind your shoe, there."

They stepped into their TARDIS and the Master firmly shut the door and proceeded to the console.

"He could have stayed for tea," Susan muttered.

"Nonsense," the Master said. "He wouldn't have accepted, he's too stubborn." He looked at her long face and sighed. "Cheer up, ducks. He'll be perfectly happy fighting the Daleks and saving the Earth."

"Oh, do you think he will?" she perked right up.

"My dear," he said. "I would bet my Matrix key on it."

And off they went, to find a more interesting planet to take over.


End file.
